Afghan Biographies

Cabinet list interim Government

Name

Cabinet list interim Government

Ethnic backgr.

Date of birth

Function/Grade

Members Interim Government 2001-2002

History and Biodata

Hamid Karzai (I) Appointed:
President HAMID KARZAI 44, is a Pashtun leader whose Popolzai tribe is one of the largest in southern Kandahar. Married to a doctor, he became tribal leader after his father's assassination in Pakistan. Fluent in English, his native Pashtu and Dari and other major languages of Afghanistan and neighboring countries

Yonus Qanooni (N) Appointed:
Interior Minister YOUNUS QANOONI: The interior minister is an intellectual, 44, from the Panjshir Valley's town of Rokha. During the 1992-96 government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani, Qanooni was deputy defense minister, then interior minister. He survived an attempt on his life that was blamed on Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. As a result, he walks with a cane.

Dr. Abdullah (N) Appointed:
Foreign Minister Dr. ABDULLAH: The foreign minister is a medical doctor ,44, Raised in the capital, Kabul, he was the leading spokesman for Massood until the northern alliance military chief was assassinated Sept. 9. During the 1992-96 government of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Abdullah was the foreign minister, a role he assumed again after Nov. 13, when the northern alliance took power from the Taliban.

Mohammad Qaseem Fahim (N) Appointed:
Defense Minister MOHAMMED FAHIM: The defense minister, 44, is an ethnic Tajik from the northern Panjshir Valley and a member of the northern alliance. He was appointed alliance defense minister after the death of Ahmed Shah Massood. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Fahim was a member of (Khad) the secret police of the communist government, then joined the Islamic uprising against the communists in the late 1980s.

Dr. Sima Samar (R) Appointed:
Deputy President and women's affairs SIMA SAMAR: A 44-year-old ethnic Hazara Born February, 1957 in Ghazni belonged to the feminist Revolutionary Afghan Women's Association. Samar fled her homeland after the 1979 Soviet invasion, in which her first husband was killed. She worked as a doctor in a refugee camp in Pakistan and opened Shuhada, a hospital there in 1987

Hedayat Amin Arsala (R) Appointed:
Minister of Finance Mr. Hedayat Amin Arsala came to US in 1959. Upon his return to Kabul he was sent to Czechoslovakia (his major was Tank). He had earned his Ph.D. in economics and finance and worked for World Bank. In early 80's he requested his early retirement and joined the mujahedeen. he had served in Rabani's administration as a foreign minister. He is a close advisor to King Zahir Shah

Haji Abdul Qadeer (N) Appointed:
Minister of Urban Development The governor of the province of Nangarhar in southern Afghanistan, a complex Pashtun tribal area that connects Kabul to Peshawar (Pashtun)

Suhaila Seddiqi (R) Appointed:
Public Health SUHAILA SIDDIQI: The 60-year-old surgeon is health minister. An ethnic Muhammadzai Pashtun related to Afghanistan's royal family, she was given the rank of surgeon general during the communist rule of Najibullah. in September 1996, she was the chief of surgery at the capital's Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital.

Abdul Rahman (R) Appointed:
Air Transport and Tourism (1953-2002) Rahman was a senior figure in the Northern Alliance which dominated the interim government, but later switched his allegiance to former King Zahir Shah. He was killed by supporters of Rabbani in an attack at Kabul Airport. This was said to be a warning for those who were thinking of supporting the Zahir Shah whose popularity has grown in Afghanistan

Mohammad Mohaqiq (N) Appointed:
Planning Minister An ethnic Hazara, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq is the Planning Minister, Interim Government of Afghanistan and a Chairman of the Political Committee of Hizb-e Wahdat Islami Afghanistan Water and Electricity: Shaker Kargar. Uzbek. Northern alliance.